The Saints came into Thursday night ranked 27th in the NFL with a -6 turnover margin. Then they coughed the ball up on each of their first two drives, but the Panthers failed to convert.

After the turnovers, the Panthers marched to the Saints 39-yard-line and then to their 38-yard-line before punting each time.

To make matters worse, the Saints turned one of the Panthers’ two turnovers into seven points.

The Panthers’ ground game has gotten healthier with the return of running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, but production hasn’t followed. That’s in large part due to a lack of touches, particularly against the Saints.

Stewart and Williams only had eight carries apiece, even though the Panthers averaged a respectable 4.7 yards per rush Thursday night.

As the adage goes, a ground game is a quarterback’s best friend, but the Panthers’ run game hasn’t done Cam Newton any favors this year. He’s the team’s second-leading rusher with 257 yards, trailing Stewart by just six yards on nine fewer carries. Newton’s 4.5 yards-per-carry is also the best average for any Panther with 10 or more carries.

Entering Week 9, tight end Greg Olsen led the Panthers in receptions (42), he was second in receiving yards (509), and he was tied for the team lead in touchdowns (5). He’s also helped moved the chains with a team-high 31 first downs.

But Olsen was virtually nonexistent again. Over his last two games, he’s caught just four passes for 46 yards while being targeted only seven times.

Before last week, Olsen had failed to break 60 yards in just one of his previous seven games. He’s now failed to crack 30 yards each of the last two weeks.

Kelvin Benjamin is near the top of most major categories among rookie receivers, but his ability to make incredible catches is starting to be overshadowed by drops on his easier opportunities.

For the second straight week, Benjamin dropped a touchdown pass. He was bailed out a play later when Newton ran in for a score, but Benjamin’s problem isn’t going away.

He’s currently tied for second in the NFL with five drops, and he’s averaging a drop rate of 7.4 percent.

The Panthers have trotted out four different starting lineups on the offensive line each of the last four weeks. Not surprisingly, the Panthers have gone winless, with a 0-3-1 record in that stretch.

Newton’s production has dipped sharply during that span with passer ratings of 85.8, 72.6, 61.0 and 39.4. As he goes, so does the Panthers offense which has scored just three touchdowns in its last three games. Since their 37-all tie with the Bengals, the Panthers have scored a total of 36 points in three weeks.

Part of the offense’s struggles can be blamed on a defense that’s allowing teams to score touchdowns on 58 percent of their trips inside the red zone. Bad field position and a defense that isn’t forcing teams to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns doesn’t help set up the ball control offense coordinator Mike Shula likes to run. And without a ball-control offense, the Panthers’ defense finds itself on the field a lot more.